Breakthrough
by Kairou Watoshimi
Summary: Chris had just done the unthinkable and for once, Hunt was the furthest thing from Jane's mind. It's too bad he wasn't having any of it.
1. Twilight

**Title:** Breakthrough  
 **Author:** Watoshimi Kairou  
 **Fandom:** Hollywood U: Rising Stars  
 **Characters:** Thomas Hunt / Jane Doe, Chris Winters  
 **Rating:** General  
 **Status:** Complete  
 **Summary:** Chris had just done the unthinkable and for once, Hunt was the furthest thing from Jane's mind. It's too bad he wasn't having any of it.

* * *

 **Original prompt by anonymous (on Tumblr):** _ **In honor of the latest Chris date: Chris proposing and MC not knowing what to do. Hunt being jealous and trying to prove he's better.**_

 **Breakthrough  
** **[1] Twilight**

She showed up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after class during is office hours like clockwork.

At first, Jane would pretend that she needed help on her assignments; coming in with questions but they would either end up arguing or talking about some completely unrelated subject. It became clear that help was the _last_ thing Jane needed but since neither of them mentioned anything, soon enough, Jane's appearance became something like a routine. For those two hours, it was _their_ time.

Jane tilted her head, hoping for a better view of the tabloid magazine that Hunt seemed to be reading through narrowed, judgmental eyes. _Whatever the article's about,_ she mused, _it's enough to make him use_ that _particular frown._ It's the same frown he always had on his face whenever _she_ did something to annoy him. Hunt flipped a page, frown deepening as he did so.

"Should I pretend I didn't just catch you reading a tabloid magazine?" Jane asked as a way of announcing her presence.

His head immediately snapped up at the sound of her voice. "Yes," he answered, setting the magazine to the side and watched as Jane approached his desk, frown never leaving his face.

Jane wondered which particular persona he was going to grace her with this time; the 'I'm your professor and we must maintain our distance' persona or the 'we've been keeping each other company for a while now and can probably be considered friends of sorts or something'. Of course, there was also the 'we have some sort of _connection_ and I may or may not have feelings for you' persona but Hunt seemed to have _that_ particular one under lock and key.

"You brought lunch?" Hunt asked, eyeing the take-out bag in her hands. "Again?"

"Yes."

He glared at her.

Jane rolled her eyes. "In case you didn't know, your office hours are smack in the middle of lunch time. I don't plan on going hungry just so I can see your face."

Ignoring her last sentence, Hunt eyed her with a raised eyebrow. "I had a wonderful time explaining to Ackermann why there were coffee stains on some of his more important paperwork last time." His eyes narrowed. "I hope you don't still plan on using my—"

She set the bag onto his desk, pushing away the papers he had been grading before the tabloid magazine caught his eye. Easily ignoring his grumbling—they go through this every time; Hunt had a thing about keeping up appearances—Jane asked, "Do you want some?" She fluttered her eyelashes and smiled innocently, already knowing his answer.

He glared at her for a moment before his eyes darted downwards to the bag. "What is it?" he finally asked.

"Japanese."

He sniffed. "I don't like raw fish."

"I know," she replied, rolling her eyes. He liked to remind her every time she ordered some for herself. "Which is why I got udon this time." Hunt looked up at her and she had to resist the urge to smirk; it took a while but Jane liked to think she was very good at reading him nowadays. "Don't think I don't notice you drooling every time I have some."

He huffed. "As if I would do something so indecent."

Still smiling, Jane reached into the bag and pulled out the udon containers, handing one off to Hunt and setting down another for herself. "Oh! Did I tell you?" she said brightly, handing him a pair of wooden chopsticks. "I got an interview with Anthony Carter for Singh's class." She pushed the now empty take-out bag away and sat down across from him, wiggling happily in her seat.

Hunt raised an eyebrow. "Carter?" he repeated. "How in the world did you manage _that?_ He's even harsher than I am when handing out interviews."

She flashed him a smile and reached up to tuck a stand of hair behind her ear. "Please, no one can resist my charisma and obviously charming good looks for long."

Hunt scoffed softly in disbelief. "And here I thought he was gay," he muttered, side-glancing at the magazine he had been reading earlier.

Jane froze. Then: "Yea," she admitted. "Probably."

He turned back towards her and raised an eyebrow.

"It was only after I mentioned you did he finally agree to give me an interview," she told him, pursing her lips in annoyance. As if knowing that wasn't the end of her story, Hunt continued to stare at her, chopsticks posed over his udon, waiting. With a sigh, Jane slowly reached into her purse and pulled out a small card which she slid across the desk towards him. "So, um," she began hesitantly, "here's his personal number. Only a limited amount of people have it so take good care of it." Refusing to look up, Jane kept her gaze firmly on the card. She could practically feel his eyebrows twitching in annoyance and waited for the insult that was sure to come her way.

It never did.

"You better not have promised him that I would call or something equally as foolish," he grumbled instead, his tone lacking its usual bite.

Jane frowned, "I didn't."

"Hn."

She looked up again, brows furrowed in confusion. If she didn't know him better, Jane would have thought that he was worried about something but distracted seemed like a much more fitting word. "So, what got your panties up in a twist?" she asked, lightly slurping the noodles into her mouth.

He blinked, watching the movement of her udon noodles for a moment before glaring at her. "I beg your pardon?"

Giving herself a moment to chew her noodles, Jane rested her chopsticks over her container before interlocking her fingers together and resting her elbows onto his desk. "You're usually so much more insulting than this," she told him, resting her chin on her interlocked fingers and staring steadily into his eyes.

If they weren't already sort of friends at this point in their odd relationship, Jane was sure Hunt would have kicked her out for such a comment by now. Or, at the very least, give her a sharp tongue lashing that would make her want to snap back. Then again, she realized, he had been acting strange. As his gaze shifted from her to the magazine again, Jane followed it with narrowed eyes; finally realizing what had been distracting him.

Feeling annoyed about the situation in ways she couldn't really explain, Jane reached over and snatched the magazine up before he could stop her. "What has you _so_ distracted that you—oh." Jane blinked, finding herself staring at a picture of her and Chris. The paparazzi photograph must have been taken when the young heartthrob had dropped her off at her dorm after dinner a couple nights ago. "Oh, damn it," she grumbled, reading the title of the article.

 _Hollywood's New "It" Couple,_ it read.

Jane winced. "Does that mean I shouldn't go to dinner with Chris tonight?" she muttered quietly to herself.

"Pardon?"

Her head snapped up in surprise. For a moment, Jane had completely forgotten that she was currently in Hunt's office having lunch with him. "No, right?" she asked him, looking to him for advice with ease she had not imagine would ever be possible considering her pride and stubbornness. She guessed it had something to do with their odd friendship. "I can't have the paparazzi dictate my life."

For a moment, Hunt only stared at her, an odd expression flashing over his face. Before she had time to truly observe it, however, it was gone and Hunt's usual 'are you stupid?' expression was back. "Did I or did I not teach you not to let the outsiders change who you are as a person? You may be aiming to be a public figure but you should never lose your individuality along the way."

"You're right, of course," Jane agreed, remembering the assignment she had with her pop-star friend. "But what do you do if you're not the only person affected?"

She watched as a muscle in Hunt's jaw twitch as he pondered over the question. "It really depends on the other person," Hunt finally answered, looking at her in such a way Jane wondered if he was speaking from experience. "Are they willing to have their name dragged through the mud along with yours?"

Jane blinked and looked down at the magazine again, mulling over his comment.

* * *

Humming, Jane was putting on her favorite pair of feathered earrings when someone knocked on her door. "It's open!" she called out, giving herself a look-over in the mirror.

"Jane, you coming?" Addison immediately asked as she walked into her dorm room, closely followed by Ethan.

"Coming where?" she asked, tossing her friend a questioning look.

"Only the biggest party of the month," Ethan answered.

Flashing him a smile, Jane shook her head. "Sorry guys," she said as she twisted her hair up into a loose bun before plunging a silver hair stick into it. "But I'm going out to dinner with Chris tonight."

Ethan and Addison exchanged non-too subtle glances. "And where is Mr. Heartthrob taking you?" Ethan asked as if he didn't already know. Jane may not have told him where they were going but Ethan had a way of finding out things people rather not have him find out.

Familiar with both the agent's teasing tone and expression, Jane only rolled her eyes in response. "Oh, stop it," she huffed. "Chris and I are _just_ friends."

They exchanged glances again, a movement that was _really_ beginning to annoy Jane. "Jane," Ethan said slowly and carefully as if he was talking to a child. "No one makes reservations at _Silver Crescent_ for some friendly dinner." He shook his head in disappointment. "I don't know how someone as intelligent as you can be so _stupid._ Or are you just refusing to see what is so obviously in front of you?"

"Ooh, you're annoying!" she huffed again, spinning around to face them. "Look, Chris and I _talked_ about this. We both agreed that we were better off as friends." Actually, they had only agreed to take a break and while their interactions may have been slightly awkward at first, Jane thought they had finally managed to rekindled their friendship to its former glory. She threw a glare in Ethan's direction. "And how did you even know about _Silver Crescent_ anyway?"

He shot her an unimpressed look. "Really, Jane?"

"Never mind," she grumbled. "Stupid question." Ethan would probably make a better stalker than he was an agent, Jane thought. Now, _that_ would be impressive considering he was probably one of the best junior agents at the university. "Anyway," she continued. "I have to go now so remember to lock my door behind you."

"Chris?" Addison teased.

Jane glared at her in mock anger. "It's not a date," she reminded the blonde.

* * *

 _This_ better _not be a date,_ Jane thought, glaring at the bouquet of red roses sitting innocently on top of the table. Chris had called her a couple minutes ago telling her that he would be running late so it wasn't as if he had _personally_ handed them to her or anything, but Jane didn't see roses on any other table. She looked around as discreetly as possible just to double-check.

"Is there a problem, Miss Doe?" the waiter—Jared—asked, looking down at her in concern. "Is the table not to your liking?"

"Erm," she began hesitantly. "It's nothing, really... it's just... the roses..."

"Ah," Jared smiled, nodding. "They were specially requested by Mr. Winters."

"I see..." Jane muttered; it was more of an automatic response than anything else. "Did he request anything—"

"Jane?"

She turned around and gaped. "Professor Hunt?!" she exclaimed. Her eyes darted to the man standing next to him whom she recognized as the university's dean. _Business meeting at_ Silver Crescent? she wondered in the back of her mind. _Really?_ Then again, Jane realized, it _could_ be a date; the dean _was_ rather good-looking for his age.

They stared at each other for a moment.

" _Well,"_ Jane said, still blinking at him in surprise. "This is certainly awkward."

Hunt looked down at her, facial expression indicating that he couldn't have agreed more. His gaze slid down her form, taking in her appearance but Jane couldn't tell whether or not he liked what he saw. Hunt's expression was even more closed off than normal and she couldn't get a reading on him.

They stared some more.

"Thomas?" the dean—Ackermann—said slowly as if unsure if he should be interrupting. "Should we... head to our seats?"

"Yes, of course," Hunt replied, turning to walk towards the table right across from hers.

Jane winced, this was going to awkward.

"Enjoy your date," Ackermann told her politely before following Hunt.

Jane blinked at his words before scowling. _That damn article!_ she thought angrily, sitting down in the seat Jared had pulled out for her minutes before. _It's causing all kinds of misunderstandings!_ A blur of red caught her eye and Jane turned to glare at the roses too. _You too!_

She paused. Was it possible that Chris had invited her to such a prominent and expensive restaurant because he wanted them to try going out again? Her breath hitched at the thought and as much as Jane would like to deny the possibility, it would certainly explain the out-of-place roses. "Not exactly the place where I would like to talk about it," Jane grumbled but to be completely honest, she couldn't say she was surprised. Chris had always been a romantic and Jane wouldn't do anything to change that about him.

Jane knew that she liked him well enough but it wasn't enough that she would want to go out with him again. She sighed and flipped open the menu in front of her, looking at the words without actually reading them. Chris wasn't even here yet and already she was making assumptions. She blamed the article. And the roses. And Addison and Ethan, of course. Jane scowled at the reminder; the article itself wasn't enough to sway her mind but with the combined forces of her two friends... if they hadn't gotten into her head, she probably would have saw the roses and thought it was a typical Chris thing to do. Chris was kind, passionate, and knew how to make someone feel good about themselves. He was everything she looked for in a guy and Jane was sure she probably would have been in love with him if it wasn't for Hunt.

Ah, Hunt.

Unwittingly, Jane's gaze slid from the menu, to the beautiful red roses, and finally towards the table across from hers, catching Hunt's eye. He returned her stare for a moment before breaking contact and turning his attention back towards Ackermann. Jane sighed to herself, and wondered why it was so hard to get over him when she—possibly—had someone like _Chris Winters_ who wanted her.

"Jane?"

Both Hunt and her head snapped up in surprise; Hunt was just a little more subtle about it. "Chris!" she greeted, standing up.

He smiled at her—happy expression a complete contrast to Hunt's scowl—and quickly assured, "It's fine. You can sit down!" They both settled down, smiling at each other; Jane could only hope that she was acting natural and that Addison and Ethan's teasing words were not noticeably effecting her behavior around the young heartthrob. "You look very beautiful," he complimented.

 _Oh boy,_ Jane thought. "Thank you," she replied pleasantly instead. "You look very handsome yourself." It was true, of course, but she preferred Hunt's crisp, clean-shaven look over Chris' five o'clock shadow. Her gaze glided past Chris to admire the smoothness of Hunt's firm jawline.

"Would you like some wine?"

"Wine?" Jane repeated, gaze snapping back to him and the expensive-looking wine bottle he was holding. She wondered if it had been on the table all along. "Oh, yes please."

Chris smiled, pouring some into her wineglass. "I'm glad; I don't want to be the only one drinking."

"Oh?"

He laughed lightly in a nervous sort of manner. "Yes, I'll definitely be needing some tonight."

Jane felt herself pause at his words but was quick to recover. "So," she began as she wrapped fingers around the thin handle of the wineglass, purposing ignoring the subtle non-hint despite the god-awful pounding of her heart. He was being kind of obvious, wasn't he? "How was work?" she asked. "You're shooting a new movie, right?"

" _Inferno,"_ Chris confirmed. "It was... interesting."

"Oh no," she breathed, knowing that tone anywhere. She used it herself whenever she talked about Bianca ruining something. It was also Hunt's favorite tone to use whenever her name was brought up for whatever reason. "What happened?"

"Well, the lead actress isn't fond of the director so she spent the entire shooting time arguing with him about everything. And we can't really afford that since we only have the building for one more day." He leaned closer to her and whispered, "Between you and me, I don't think she's going to be keeping her job for much longer." He shook his head and sighed. "Anyway, enough about my awful day. What about you? How were your classes?"

Her eyes immediately darted past him at the reminder, once again catching Hunt's gaze who seemed to have been staring in her direction for quite some time. He scowled at her and Jane blinked rapidly in confusion. "U-um," she stammered, trying to regather her thoughts as she pulled back, distancing herself from Chris. "The usual, got yelled at by Singh, got yelled at by Hunt, nothing out of the ordinary."

"Ah." Chris smiled in amusement.

"Excuse me, sir, miss," Jared suddenly interrupted quietly. "Are you ready to order?"

Jane and Chris blinked at each other.

"No, sorry," Chris said, slightly embarrassed. "We haven't even looked at the menu yet. We were just catching up and lost track of time."

"Understandable." the waiter nodded.

Jane giggled. _"You_ haven't looked at the menu yet. I got here earlier than you, remember?"

Chris grinned at her. "Then why don't you order for me?"

Besides the fact that she wasn't really comprehending what her eyes were looking over, Jane was pretty sure the menu itself wasn't written in English. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me?" she asked him. "I can't pronounce anything on this menu. Are you trying to embarrass me?"

He laughed again and turned toward to the waiter. "Why don't you have the chef choose for us?" he asked. "The price doesn't matter."

"Doesn't _matter?"_ Jane hissed in a horrified tone, hand darting out to grab a hold of his arm. She leaned towards him and glared, making sure to keep her voice low. "Chris! I'm a poor university student, remember? I have a budget!" Behind him, she saw Hunt narrow his eyes in her direction before shifting in his seat and turning away from her again. Jane had to resist the urge to glare at him, mentally hoping that the lines from his scowls became permanent.

"Let me pay this time," Chris said, placing a calming hand on hers. "Please?"

Jane stared at him for a moment before remembering this may as well be Chris' way of easing his way into her graces and buttering her up so she'll reply positively in his favor. Jane bit her lip, wondering if she should say something but reminded herself that she wasn't completely sure if that really was the case. "Fine, but I'm paying next time," she told him, pulling her hand back and wondered if she meant it.

 _Next time,_ she thought, meant she was already agreeing to go out with him. But was she really? With Hunt on her mind, it wouldn't be fair to Chris and while Jane knew she may be a flirt, she would never play with someone's feelings like that. She looked back up across the table but Hunt was too busy speaking with the dean to notice.

The waiter smiled and nodded again. "Any preferences?"

"I'm good," Chris answered before looking at Jane again. "You?"

"I'm good too," she replied.

The waiter smiled and nodded before leaving to place their non-order.

"I hope you're not allergic to anything," Chris commented with a worried frown. "We probably should have told him that beforehand."

"I'm not," replied Jane with a small smile. She marveled at how nice and considerate he was and wondered again why she couldn't have fallen for someone like him instead.

Their dishes arrived fifteen minutes later, smelling so delicious that Jane had to check to make sure she wasn't drooling from the corner of her mouth. Biting the corner of her bottom lip, Jane sat up higher in her chair, hoping for a better view as Jared moved to set down their dishes. She barely heard him as he introduced them, wanting very much to just close her eyes and take in the scent of what could only be described as 'a little piece of heaven.'

"Everything looks delicious," Chris told Jared who smiled at him with a nod before leaving. He then turned his attention towards her and watched as she slowly wafted the scent of their dishes in her own direction. "Jane?"

She held up a hand. "Hold on, I barely ever get to enjoy food like this."

Chris smiled and leaned towards her. "Really? Then I should just bring you here more often."

"No," she replied distractedly. "I'll just get spoiled."

"If anyone deserves to be spoiled, it's you." He shifted slightly in his seat. "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before."

At that, Jane looked up but instead of catching Chris' gaze, she found herself looking past him. Again. It was beginning to drive her mad since she couldn't explain _why_ she kept doing it.

Dinner itself was a quiet but enjoyable affair. Even so, by the time dessert had finally come around, Jane was ready to get the entire dinner over with and call it a night. Dinner with Chris had never felt so awkward before and it wasn't just because the young heartthrob may be waiting for the right moment to ask her out. After all, Hunt was sitting _right there_ and had front rows seat to their entire conversation; Jane wasn't sure how she felt about that.

It wasn't fair though, Jane realized, feeling a sudden wave of unreasonable anger. Hunt had no right staring at her and making her feel both guilty and out of depth. Of course, Jane also knew, it wasn't as if he was doing it on purpose. _Which makes it even worst,_ she thought with a mental huff. _He should_ not _have that power over me._

Realizing that she was—once again—thinking about Hunt when she should be paying attention to Chris, Jane forced herself back into reality. "This was an amazing dinner," she told Chris truthfully as they finished off the last bits of their chocolate cheesecake.

Chris smiled again and reached out to place a hand on hers. "I have one last surprise for you," he said.

 _Oh gods,_ Jane thought. _Here it comes._ For reasons she rather not admit, her gaze swept past Chris to seek Hunt's again. He was staring at her in such an intense manner that Jane was forced to drop her gaze. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest and Jane wondered if he knew something she didn't.

Before she could ask Chris about his 'last surprise,' the lights of the restaurant dimmed and Jane probably wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the single beam of light aimed directly on their table. "Miss Jane Doe," a smooth, amplified voice rang out. "This song was especially requested for you."

Wide-eyed, she turned to face the musician, watching as he began playing a familiar melody on the piano; familiar because it's the melody to the very first song they danced to as a couple. Jane could feel the prickling feeling of a hundred gazes on her back as the entire restaurant turned their attention towards them. She—she who had always been unbreakable under pressure—felt cold, nervous sweat on the back of her neck. It was as if her body knew what was going to happen before her mind could catch up.

"Jane?"

She whipped back around at the unexpected voice, surprised to see Chris standing in front of her. Scrambling to her feet non-too gracefully in response, Jane stared up at him a horrified sort of manner, her breath catching in her throat as Chris knelt down in front of her.

— _what._

The restaurant—which had been filled with low, excited whispers before—fell into immediate silence. It was so quiet, Jane swore she could hear the pounding of her heart. "Chris?" she squeaked in horror as she realized what he was doing.

 _How is it possible,_ she wondered, _that two people see their relationship status in such different places?_ She who had thought they were only _friends_ —they've talked about it, damn it!—and Chris who apparently thought they were going out long enough to think proposing was a good idea. _When had everything began to go so wrong?_

"Jane," Chris said again and his voice was filled with such warmth and emotion she thought she would just about cry for him. "Marry me?" And then he opened the ring box showing off a beautiful silver and blue diamond ring that he had so obviously chosen with care. It glittered in the beam light, prompting the _oohs_ and _ahhs_ from their audience.

 _Oh no._

Her heart stopped. Jane knew she was a flirt, she liked to tease and joke but she never, ever, _ever_ wanted to break anyone's heart. And Chris—Chris who was proposing—in public!—would no doubt get his heart broken if she were to speak up now. Later. _At all._ How and _when_ could you turn someone's marriage proposal down without breaking their heart? She might have considered going out with him again but getting engaged was absolutely out of the question.

" _No one makes reservations at_ Silver Crescent _for some friendly dinner."_

 _No one makes it for some_ slightly _more than friendly dinner, either,_ a small voice in her mind quipped up sarcastically.

 _Shut up,_ Jane thought, feeling as if she was going mad. _Shut up, shut up, shut up!_

She could feel everyone's attention on them—on _her_ —not wanting to miss her reply to Chris Winters', celebrity heartthrob, proposal.

"I-I—" she stammered.

" _It's not like that, Chris and I are just friends."_

Haven't they _talked_ about this before? Hadn't they agreed on just being friends? Had this agreement ended without her knowledge? Since when had Chris thought they were going out? Did that mean all the 'friendly dinners' they've been having for the past few weeks wasn't as 'friendly' as she thought? Had she always been this oblivious?

"Jane?" Chris asked again, looking up at her expectantly.

She took in a shuddering breath and felt as if the entire room was shuddering along with her. Everyone was waiting, waiting, waiting and she was stalling, stalling, stalling. Jane knew she couldn't marry him, not now—not _ever_ —but she also knew she couldn't turn him down in front of everyone. It would ruin _both_ their careers; he would forever be known as 'the heartthrob that got turned down by a newbie actress' and she would forever be known as 'the girl that turned Chris Winters down.'

" _But what do you do if you're not the only person affected?"_

Then again, Jane also realized that if she _did_ turn him down in public, her fame would only increase even if it wasn't due to _her_ hard work. And since she wasn't that type of person, that wasn't even an option; not to mention Chris was her _friend._ How could she play this so that neither of them would give the media something negative to report about?

 _You put me in such a tough pickle, Chris,_ Jane thought mournfully.

"Jane?" Chris repeated again, this time sounding slightly confused and worried.

 _Say yes,_ she could almost hear him thinking.

Jane bit her lip. _What to do, what to do, what to do?_

 _Say yes._

She was usually so good at solving problems in the heat of the moment. After all, she was not known for being the only person who had ever successfully managed to pull a prank on Hunt for no reason. Why is it—during one of the most problematic situation in her life—can she not think of a single solution?

 _Say yes._

Some problems, Jane was reluctant to admit, had no real solution. So, unable to find a way to reject his proposal without breaking his heart in front of everyone, Jane did the only thing she could think of.

She fainted.


	2. Midnight

**Title:** Breakthrough  
 **Author:** Watoshimi Kairou  
 **Fandom:** Hollywood U: Rising Stars  
 **Characters:** Thomas Hunt / Main Character, Chris Winters  
 **Rating:** General  
 **Status:** In Progress  
 **Summary:** Chris had just done the unthinkable and for once, Hunt was the furthest thing from Jane's mind. It's too bad he wasn't having any of it.

* * *

 **Hello, it's been a long time hasn't it? Unfortunately, I'm not exactly back since classes have begun and I'm already swamped with exams and assignments. Thankfully, my keyboard problem has been solved because my darling girl, raecareus, took it upon herself to buy me a new laptop!**

 **How has everyone been? I missed everyone T_T I'm also so behind in the fandom, I don't even know what to do anymore. Also, I have a ton of lovely messages from everyone and I apologize for not being able to reply to them all but I actually haven't been able to sort through everything. Just know that I read and treasure all your comments 3 And if I owe you a reply, whether a message here or a text, I'm slowly getting there, I promise. Sorry for the wait!**

 **Breakthrough  
** **[2] Midnight**

Okay, so she didn't _actually_ faint.

But she was aiming to be an actress and pretending to faint on cue _and_ make it look realistic was just part of the job. The crowd immediately gasped and broke out into murmurs as she collapsed onto the ground.

"Jane!" Chris cried out in shock. The air around her shifted slightly as he scrambled towards her.

She felt his large, warm hands on her face for a brief second before her entire world moved. Reminding herself to keep her eyes shut and stay limp, Jane could only hope that Chris had picked her up so he could move her away from the gathering crowd. Her head fell against a broad chest and she smelled something deep and earthy, enhanced by the spicy scent of a very familiar cologne.

 _Not Chris,_ she thought.

"I think she had enough excitement for today," Hunt's deep voice sounded, his entire chest vibrating against her as he spoke. He shifted his hold on her, making it so that she was resting more comfortably against him.

"Is she all right?" Chris sounded panicked and Jane almost felt bad for him but she knew pretending to faint was their best choice.

Someone leaned closer to her, the course cloth of their jacket brushing up against Jane's cheek. "Get her out of here," Ackermann whispered in a low voice. "I'll handle everything here. The media will no doubt catch wind of this and have a field day. Mr. Winters is definitely not helping the situation right now."

While Hunt made no audible response, Jane could only assume that he must have nodded or something because the next thing she knew, he was straightening up as he moved to stand. For a single, brief second, Jane feared that Hunt might actually have known that she was awake and would purposely drop her just for the hell of it.

Thankfully, her fears were unfounded and Jane felt him move, the cool breeze of the night air washing over her skin as he stepped outside. Ackermann must have done something to hold everyone—including Chris—back in the restaurant because she couldn't hear anyone following them but even so, Jane continued the act. _Just in case,_ she thought, strictly telling herself that it had absolutely nothing to do with her enjoying the feeling of Hunt holding her against his chest.

Besides, she had bigger things to worry about. As Hunt shifted her carefully in his arms so he could free up a hand to wrestle the passenger's door to his car open, Jane wondered what she was going to do. While she may not have turned Chris down in public, there was no doubt they would be making headlines tomorrow. Not to mention, she still had to give an answer, both to him _and_ the media.

Hunt slid her into the passenger's seat, his touch was surprisingly gentle as he manipulated her limbs around, making sure she was completely inside the car. Jane probably would have enjoyed this had she not been too preoccupied with her thoughts but when he closed the passenger's door, Jane breathed a sigh of relief, immediately feeling the nervous twisting of her stomach easing.

She opened her eyes and sat up in her seat just as Hunt slipped into the driver's seat, closing the door behind him. "Oh dear gods!" she exclaimed, feeling to need to summarize her feelings of the night's events.

Hunt jumped in surprise, slamming his head against the roof of his car. "Shit!" He was forcefully slammed back down into his seat from the impact. "Ow," Hunt hissed, glaring at her. "You're awake?"

Jane looked up at him fearfully, for once, afraid of what the asshole side of him might do. "You're not going to force me to go back there, are you?"

He stared at her.

As the reality of the situation finally managed to completely register in her mind, Jane groaned and brought her feet up onto the seat—despite Hunt's half-hearted protests—and buried her face into her knees. "What a nightmare," she groaned, her voice muffled. "What in the world am I going to do?" For someone who prided herself in coming up with solutions while no one else could, Jane could practically feel her brain shriveling up at the though of needing to deal with the current problem at hand.

Meanwhile, Hunt was still staring at her like she had grown an extra head. "You pretended to faint so you wouldn't have to answer him?" he asked slowly.

Jane lifted her head to glare at him; he was judging her, he was _totally judging her._ "It happened so suddenly, I didn't know what to do!" she snapped.

Hunt blinked and narrowed his eyes. "This is not a romance movie!" he snapped right back. "People usually have _some_ sort of suspicion whether or not their significant other is planning to propose! What do you mean it happened so suddenly? How foolish do you think I am?"

" _What?"_ Jane immediately shot back, her voice unnaturally high. "We weren't even going out! Chris and I _talked_ about this and we _agreed_ to just be friends!" She huffed in annoyance. "Why am I even telling you about this?" Jane asked, mostly to herself than him but she continued anyway, "I can't even believe that he thought—since when did we—" Jane cut herself off suddenly, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. "I tend to show my affection _physically,_ how could he have mistaken our—"

She froze.

"Oh gods," she whispered in a horrified voice as it dawned on her. "Oh my god!"

"Jane."

Heart pounding in her chest, Jane brought up shaky hands and clasped them tightly against her breasts. "I kissed him on the cheek a couple of times," she remembered. "And then there was that Christmas party where we were caught under that mistletoe. And Addison just _had_ to throw that stupid middle school-themed party where we played that _stupid Seven Minutes in Heaven._ And there was also that dumb _Truth or Dare_ game. And—"

"Jane."

" _What?"_ she screeched, turning a wild, panicked expression towards Hunt.

He stared at her for a moment, eyes wide with surprise at her suddenly outburst. Then the moment was over and his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

As strange as it may seemed, Jane actually found herself calming down at his expression. A scowling Hunt; finally, something familiar in her chaotic world. "Sorry," she muttered, patting her chest softly with an open palm. _Calm down,_ she reminded herself. _I need to calm down._ She was Jane Doe and like with every other problem, she'll find a way to—

" _No one makes reservations at_ Silver Crescent _for some friendly dinner."_

She paused.

" _I don't know how someone as intelligent as you can be so_ stupid. _Or are you just refusing to see what is so obviously in front of you?"_

"Ethan is right," Jane whimpered, burying her face into her hands. "I _am_ an idiot!"

"I could have told you that," Hunt grumbled.

Jane ignored his words and sighed instead as she looked up at him pitifully. "Do you mind driving me back to my dorm, professor? I need a bath." To be completely honest, she was probably going to immediately merge herself into her bed but a bath sounded nice too. She needed time to think, to _plan;_ how was she going to deal with the media? With _Chris?_

A funny expression flashed over Hunt's face and for a moment it looked as if he was going to say something. She looked up and waited but he only nodded in response before turning away from her.

* * *

Addison stared down at the pitiful lump of... of... _something_ and wondered what happened to her best friend. Jane was beautiful. Jane was intelligent. Jane was considered Hollywood's next big star; not only did she have the looks and personality to reach the top, she had the charisma and composure to _stay_ there. When everything goes to shit, Jane was the one stepping up to calm everyone down and think of solutions. Jane was the one everyone wanted to be but right now, Addison was having a hard time differentiating her from a pile of overused play-doh.

"I'm guessing you're skipping classes today?" Addison finally asked, giving the pile a tentative poke.

Jane groaned and Addison snatched her hand away in response just as the young actress sat up and threw the covers off herself. "I can't," she grumbled. "Hunt will skin me alive and Singh will cook and eat me."

Addison's lips twitched but she didn't say anything. Instead, she watched silently as Jane forced herself out of her bed, grabbing a brush off a nearby counter before making her way into the bathroom. Beyond Hunt Hunt and Singh, Addison knew the _real_ reason why Jane still planned on attending classes. If Jane couldn't handle the onslaught of piercing looks and wagging tongues now, she'll never be able to handle it; for someone who wanted to be famous, Jane _needed_ to learn how to deal with it eventually.

"How bad is it outside?" Jane asked, coming back of the bathroom minutes later, all groomed and dressed. Addison will never understand how Jane could get herself to look the way she did in mere minutes.

The blonde winced at the question and looked over at the covered windows in Jane's dorm. "You have about three major celebrity news stations, about tel smaller ones, and then there's Chris' fans." She turned back and looked Jane in the eye before elaborating. "They're angry. And they make up most of the..." she paused, thinking, _"mob."_

It was Jane's turn to wince. _Fangirls,_ she thought, and then remembered Hunt—or more specifically, the way she acted around him. _I was like that,_ she realized with a sudden, sinking feeling in her stomach. She pursed her lips in annoyance and vowed, _Never again._

With that, she turned her attention back to the window, peeked out and winced again. "That's a lot of people," she muttered.

"There's more in the back," Addison said, picking up a nearby hat and handed it towards her. "Need a fake mustache? I can easily make one up on the spot."

Jane laughed as she twisted her long hair and shoved it into the hat. "A mustache doesn't fit me; we're just going to catch attention."

Addison nodded in agreement. "True," she mused, watching as Jane shoved lensless glasses on. Glasses, she knew, that was a prop in one of Jane's previous projects, a prop she had obviously kept as a memento of sorts. "Ready?"

"Not with you," Jane replied, giving her a look. "We go _everywhere_ together. The second someone sees you, they're going to know exactly who's next to you."

Understanding where her friend was coming from, Addison nodded again. "All right but you have to be careful. And if you're not in Hunt's classroom in fifteen minutes, I'll be forced to tell Ethan and who knows what he'll send after you."

Jane smiled faintly but didn't reply. She turned back towards the window, watching the crowd stationed outside and sighed. What ever happened to the campus security, anyway? Shouldn't the dean be all up on this? He was so helpful last Friday too! Knowing the dean's love for money, she wondered briefly if the media stationed outside are the ones that paid the dean. Jane scowled at the thought; she wouldn't put it past him.

Jane waited another five minutes before finally decided that it was long enough and slipped out of her dorm room. She sneaked through a side door but made sure to hold her head high as she navigated through the crowd, pretending that she belonged there. An inappropriate giggle inched its way up her throat. Jane was rather proud of her skills; not only could she pretend to faint on the spot, she could blend into the crowd like no other!

But by the time she finally reached the lecture room, Jane's heart was pounded furiously in her chest. She could avoid the media... for some time, but she knew avoiding her classmates and their stares and questions was an entirely different matter altogether. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the lecture doors open and felt a wave wash over her as everyone quieted down and stared.

Jane held her breath, staring back at her classmates unblinkingly.

Silence.

"This is Hollywood University," Hunt's voice drawled. "If you cannot handle a few rumors, perhaps none of you belong here after all."

For a moment, no one moved and then they all turned back and continued on doing whatever they've been doing before her arrival—probably talking about her, Jane mused wearily. She looked up, catching Hunt's gaze with her own. They stared at each other, his eyes unusually unreadable before Jane nodded her gratitude and made her way towards a seat. Not her usual one, of course, she needed to be as close to the exit as possible.

 _I don't know if the media has my schedule,_ she thought. _Security may keep them out of campus buildings and dorms but the minute I step outside, they'll ambush me. Once class ends, I'll have to leave immediately._ Her eyes darted around, taking note of all the exits. _I have to contact Chris before I start answering people's questions._

With a sigh, she wilted tiredly in her seat, even though she had been doing nothing but lazing around over the past weekend. Jane lifted her head slightly and looked at the clock hanging off the wall and sighed again, waiting for class to start.

* * *

Jane had immediately shot up from her seat before Thomas could finish dismissing the class and was out the door before anyone even registered what had happened. He paused, blinked once, and then finished his sentence with a sigh. He knew exactly why she had escaped as fast as she did; she needed to be one step ahead of the paparazzi waiting outside. And no doubt she also wanted to avoid answering her peer's questions.

Chris Winters wasn't talking, he mused, and Jane had more or less disappeared the past weekend. Since no one had any real idea what was going on between Jane and Chris, the thirst for knowledge was intense. If Thomas didn't know better, he would have assumed they had done it on purpose and that everything was only an act.

With a sigh, he followed the last of his students out the lecture room only to turn down the opposite hall as he headed towards his office. Being the first person to have left his lecture, he had half-expected to see Jane waiting outside but then realized that she was probably still sneaking her way around the halls trying to avoid the few, stray paparazzis that managed to sneak in. Thomas snorted in amusement at the thought as he unlocked his door and reminded himself that he'll have to talk to Robert about increasing the campus security.

He took a seat behind his desk, sinking into the comfort of his armchair. Thomas closed his eyes, savoring the feeling for a moment before pulling out a folder of ungraded paper and placed it in front of it. He stared for a moment, as if staring long enough will shrink the pile before releasing a heavy sigh and got to work, waiting.

Time went by slowly and the silence he usually looked forward to was almost uncomfortably heavy in the air. Tapping his pen against the paper, Thomas took a few seconds to wonder at the feeling before finally decided it wasn't worth the waste of time and turned his attention back to the task at hand.

By the time he had finally finished grading all the papers, the sky was already darkening. With a heart-pounding jolt, his head snapped to the digital clock on his desk, realizing for the first time just how late it was and how long he had been sitting there, grading papers... waiting for Jane.

 _Jane._

 _She never showed up,_ he thought with an odd, uncomfortable twist in his stomach. Jane who showed up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after class during his office hours like clockwork _never showed up._

Thomas paused, feeling the ugly feeling of something like betrayal twisting his guts before logic took over. _Obviously,_ he thought. _She's trying to avoid everyone—not just the media; she can't risk getting caught just to come here._ Thomas turned the explanation over his head again and nodded. It made sense.

* * *

Jane has never actually seen someone scare off the paparazzi before but Singh was downright _vicious._ Eyes flashing, tone biting, she easily and very quickly sent the paparazzi running away with their tails between their legs.

"Oh wow," Jane murmured, awed as she watched them from the window. "I've never been so glad you're such a—" She cut herself off and glanced over at Singh as innocently as possible who turned her own gaze towards Jane, a perfect eyebrow arched.

"I didn't do that for you," Singh said, both her words and tone harsh. "If you can't even handle _this_ little problem, you won't be able to handle anything in the future. The longer you avoid them, the crazier the stories they'll make up."

Jane thought about Hunt's words from the previous day and nodded in agreement. "I know. But I hadn't been able to get in contact with Chris and I don't want to say anything without running it through him first. This involves both of us, after all."

"Admirable," Singh replied, tone dry; Jane could almost taste her sarcasm. She leaned forward, taking a peek out the window. "You can stay here for another half an hour." Giving Jane a look, Singh pulled out a set of keys from her pocket and handed it to her. "Lock up behind you and give me the keys back Thursday."

"You're not going to stay with me?" Jane asked, lips curling. "It finally feels like we're actually _bonding."_

Singh glared. "Don't push your luck."

Without waiting for a reply—before Jane could say something that would make Singh change her mind—she turned around and made her way towards the exit. Just as she was reaching for the door handle, it swung open.

"Oh!" Chris exclaimed, blinking in shock. "I'm sorry, um..."

"Professor Singh," Singh offered through narrowed eyes.

"Chris!" Jane called out in surprise.

"Jane!" he immediately greeted back. "Ethan told me you would be here."

Singh rolled her eyes and turned to catch Jane's gaze again. "Remember," she said. "Half an hour," and was gone before Jane could even express her gratitude. Or make another "we're _bonding"_ comment.

Together, the watched as the door swung shut behind Singh for a moment before turning their attention back towards each other. "I'm sorry," they both blurted out at the same time.

"Wait, let me go first," Chris said, holding up a hand to stop her when she opened her mouth to speak.

Jane closed her mouth with a small _click_ , blinking rapidly in confusion, and watched as Chris took several deep breaths to compose himself.

"I didn't mean to put you on the spot," Chris began and then frowned. "Wait, no, I _did_ mean to put you on the spot." She raised an eyebrow at his words and watched as Chris began pacing. "I was just hoping that—maybe you would think—" He sighed. "It was stupid. _I_ was stupid. I'm sorry."

"Maybe," Jane said slowly. "You should start from the beginning."

He stopped his pacing and turned to look at her with such firmness in his gaze Jane was sure he was going to turn her world upside down. Again. She wasn't sure she could handle another Chris-style confession. "You're brilliant, Jane," he said. "Absolutely brilliant. And you're good for me too; you push me to do things I wouldn't normally do. You see beyond my fame and I'm always at ease when I'm around you." He paused, jaw tensing as he thought over his next words before finally saying, "But I don't think I'm good for you."

Jane thought about contradicting his words but then remembered that he hadn't said anything about "purposely putting her on the spot" so she kept silent.

"You were my Cinderella from the moment we met and since then we've always been in the news together." He sighed again, running a hand through his hair. "And when we started going out, everyone kept saying how _good_ we looked together. Even after we..." He swallowed. "Even after we broke up, the comments kept coming. People supported _us,_ Jane; we even have a _couple's name_ for crying out loud."

 _The Winter Doe,_ Jane remembered. Their unofficial mascot was a deer with snow covering it's antlers. Does don't even _have_ antlers.

He smiled at her—all lips and no feeling—before continuing, "I think I got so caught up in everything that I just forgot it wasn't real." He paused and then admitted, "Well, I knew it wasn't real." Another pause before he continued, his voice sounded soft and forlorn. "But I _wanted_ it to be real. I wanted to have that sort of relationship with you and I thought that by proposing to you in public, you wouldn't be able to turn me down and then everything would just fall into place."

He fell silent then, waiting for her response but Jane was having a hard time digesting the information. Finally, she raised her eyes and caught his gaze. "But _marriage,_ Chris?" she asked.

Chris flushed. "Yes, well... it seemed like a good idea at the time." He sighed. "I'm sorry."

Jane knew she should be angry, she should be _very_ angry but all she could really think about was what _she_ would have done if she was in his shoes. _Probably something a lot worst,_ she thought with a wince, remembering her previous actions when it came to Hunt. "Well," Jane finally said, wanting to ease the uncomfortable and nervous tension as soon as possible. "I'm glad we cleared that up."

Chris nodded, head bobbing enthusiastically.

"But," she mused, "that doesn't change the fact that you proposed to me. In _public."_

He winced at the reminder before shrugging in such a way that Jane was suddenly reminded of exactly how long he had been in the industry. No doubt he already had an idea how to bury the gossip once in for all. "If we keep quiet about it for the next couple of days, everyone's going to assume it's some sort of publicity stunt. If you want to speed up the process, we could just tell everyone that I drank a little too much and got carried away."

While Jane could see a lot of problems in that particular plan, she couldn't exactly think of anything better. "Okay," she breathed, her voice soft with relief, shoulders dropping as if a huge weight had just been lifted. "I'm _so_ glad we have a plan now, the past few days had been an absolute nightmare." It was like playing hide-and-seek. Blindfolded. In a forest full of poisonous plants. If it wasn't the reporters catching sight of her, it was her fellow peers attempting to bully the incident from her. And if _that_ wasn't bad enough, someone had leaked her cell number—Bianca, probably—and even filtering a hundred messages a day wasn't enough to clear through all the spam.

A couple minutes into her musing, Jane noticed that Chris had spent most of it staring at her, if the prickling feeling of the thin hair on the back of her neck was anything to go by. She had always been sensitive to people's stares and while she had always thought this was a good thing, Jane found herself wishing she hadn't noticed. But she did. And Jane wasn't the type to avoid situations; she preferred confrontations, up front and personal.

"What is it?" she asked.

Chris blinked, obviously surprised. Then he smiled and shook his head. "It's nothing."

She frowned but pursed her lips, forcing herself not to pry—she had done enough of that, thank you very much. They stared at each other for a moment. Jane was sure her curiosity was showing on her face. The thought was confirmed with Chris flashed her an amused smile before making his way to her until he was standing only a couple inches away, forcing her to crane her neck so she could look him in the eyes.

He was so close, she could practically feel the heat radiating off him. _Oh dear,_ she thought.

Jane watched as his throat moved as he swallowed. "Do you..." he began, voice soft and hesitant. "Do you mind if I—" he sighed, running a hand through his already messy hair. "Just one last kiss?" he asked.

Although surprised at him request, Jane could only raise an eyebrow in question. She didn't say anything; any response she had for his request was a bit on the sarcastic side and Jane knew that Chris was no Hunt, he was sweet and warm and kind and loving. _This isn't the movies,_ she wanted to tell him. _One last kiss isn't going to change my feelings for you._ There was no way he wouldn't take that to heart.

"All right," she agreed.

He reached for her, cupping her cheek in his warm palm and leaned down. Chris' familiar scent wafted towards her, teasing the edges of her senses and seemed to whisper in her ears. _This is what you could of have,_ it said. _Romance and love, comfort and ease._ Then Chris pressed his lips against hers, moving slowly as if to savor the moment and she responded in kind, bringing a hand up to clasp his shirt.

After a few seconds he paused and pulled back just the slightest. "I wish you liked me," Chris whispered softly against her lips.

Jane closed her eyes and thought about piercing glares and disapproving frowns. And with it, there was also the rush of emotion, of fire, of the _passion._ "I wish I liked you too," she replied, her voice just as soft.

 _If only, if only..._

* * *

The first thing Jane saw when she woke up the next morning was Ethan's face. And it didn't look all that happy. She immediately groaned, throwing an arm over her eyes. "I didn't give you a copy of my keys so you could watch me while I sleep."

"No," Ethan agreed, sounding slightly amused. "You didn't, but I thought you would want to see this."

She peeked out. "What is it now?" she asked, her voice sounding almost like a whine. Considering her week, she was _this_ close to throwing a full-fledged temper tantrum.

Ethan held out the magazine in response.

Jane blinked, then squinted. And there it was: a two page spread of herself and Chris in what appeared to be a lip-lock. It was obvious a paparazzi had somehow followed them. She had to give them props; they probably scaled a tree or something equally as desperate. "Well fuck," she muttered with a groan, wondering what she had done in her previous life to deserve this.

 **Besides the usual grammar mistakes, there are probably a ton of smaller typos. I blame my nails; it is so hard typing with long nails.**


End file.
